Sanicola Hits Century Mark in GNAC Clincher

Mar 02, 2009

STANDISH, ME - Last week certainly was a memorable one for Saint
Joseph's Men's Basketball Head Coach RobSanicola‘99.

His Monks advanced to the semi-final round of the Great Northeast
Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating Rivier College on
Tuesday and, because seventh-seed Albertus Magnus upset #2 Emerson,
the team learned the Alfond would host the Falcons on Thursday.
Prior to the game on Thursday, the GNAC announced its
All-Conference awards and Sanicola received Coach
of the Year honors. It was also announced that a pair of his
players, RayEatmon ‘10
(Huntington, NY) and ElbieMurphy
‘09 (Loudonville, NY), were listed on the first and second
teams, respectively.

St. Joe's handled Albertus in the semis and, approximately an hour
after the game ended, the Monks received word that another upset
would play into their favor. Fourth-seeded Emmanuel College tipped
#1 Lasell College in double-overtime, which meant Saint Joseph's,
as the highest remaining seed, would host the GNAC Championship
against the Saints.

One would be hard-pressed to find a better setting for a title bout
than the Monks' home court, the Harold Alfond Center. In front of a
near-capacity crowd, St. Joe's and Emmanuel dueled into an extra
frame, where the Royal Blue won in dramatic fashion, as Murphy made
a layup with two seconds left and the Saints' last hurrah fell
short.

The Monks had won their first GNAC championship in the team's
second year in the conference and were headed to the NCAA's for the
second time in program history. Perhaps lost in the excitement,
however, was the fact that Sanicola had just
notched his 100th career victory.

Sanicola ranks second in team history with an even
100 wins, but has a ways to go to become the winningest SJC
skipper. Former Head Coach Rick Simonds owns the
honor, as he amassed 466 victories in 23 seasons at St. Joe's.

Sanicola played for Coach Simonds for four years,
and later served as his assistant for four seasons before being
named the head coach in the fall of 2003. Sanicola
has been a part of 264 wins and the program has posted an
impressive .689 (264-119) winning percentage in his fourteen years
as a Monks' player, assistant and head coach.